Urban kicked the night off with a set at Nashville's new Cumberland Park on the west bank of the Cumberland River and then raided Legends Corner, Tootsies Orchid Lounge, and The Stage on Lower Broadway playing a few songs in each venue before walking the sidewalk – under heavy security – to the next
stage.

Fans pressed against the windows of Legends Corner, some for as long as three hours, leading up to the show just for a chance to see Urban sing through the glass.

“I love how he does this for his fans,” said Christy Falconi, of Oakdale, Calif. who staked out the Legends Corner window around 6 p.m. after the bar was full in anticipation of Urban’s 9:15 p.m. show. “It’s sweet that he gives back.”

By the time he was scheduled to be on stage, thousands of people were lined up on the sidewalks spilling into the street along Broadway trying to catch a glimpse of the singer as he climbed out of the car and walked into Legends Corner. Fans were also packed along the path fashioned out of bicycle racks that cleared the way for him to move from bar to bar after each set.

Urban grabbed Kristi Tenpenny of McMinnville’s hand outside of Legends and held it up to his chest on his way into the building, a moment she said she will treasure forever.

"I have no words,” she said. “Melt. There’s nobody like him."

Earlier in the night at Cumberland Park, velvet ropes kept fans from pressing against the low slung stage, but the crowd of several hundred cheered loudly when Urban walked out and launched the show with his past chart topper “Long Hot Summer.” He got the audience singing along before the end of the song and kept the energy high and fans engaged for the next 45 minutes. Urban debuted several new songs including “Raise Em Up,” a duet with Eric Church from “Fuse,” and welcomed Church to the stage to perform it with him.

And Church wasn't the only surprise guest of the evening. After heading to Lower Broadway and playing Legends Corner, Urban moved to Tootsies where Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler joined him on stage. Urban finished the night off at The Stage.

The only guaranteed admission to the clubs was to win tickets from local media outlets, but the rooms were filled with fans like the Twiss family from Newton, N.H., who met up with friends from Boston to fly down to Nashville for a shot at admission into one of Urban’s bar shows.

(photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)

The New Englanders were first in line to get into Urban’s show at Legends, having arrived at the bar around 5 p.m.

“We’re going to get in,” Maureen Twiss, 49, said. “We’re very positive people. Quote all of us when we say ‘Boston strong,’” the friends shouted in unison.

They got in, and so did countless others. Legends Corner was still letting people inside through the back door one and two at a time even though Urban was on stage. Tootsie’s was so full, fans were often spilling out of the back door, and people were stacked so thick outside of The Stage that there were no sight lines into the bar.

The event was put together in just two weeks after another album launch plan was scrapped due to Urban’s hectic schedule. But, Cindy Mabe, senior vice president of marketing for Universal Music Group Nashville said their new plan makes sense.

"Playing the club circuit in the early days throughout Australia and here in the U.S. is exactly what molded Keith … into the artist he is today," she said. "(When launching ‘Fuse’), it only made sense to take it back to the legendary clubs on Lower Broadway. Keith was really excited about it."